Businessman Liang “Jim” Tan was found shot to death in his home in Pittsford, New York, on February 9, 2015. That evening, Tan’s son Charles Tan was arrested. At the time, Charles was a 19-year-old sophomore at Cornell University. The trial took place in September but the jurors could not reach a verdict. A mistrial was declared.
Less than two months later, when Tan returned to court to schedule a new trial, Judge James Piampiano dismissed the murder charge saying there wasn’t enough evidence to justify one. “In this case there was no evidence presented that the defendant was ever in possession of the alleged murder weapon, or had anything to do with procuring it,” said Judge Piampiano. “There was no evidence presented that the defendant ever fired it. There was no evidence presented that the defendant ever touched it.” District Attorney Sandra Doorley says it was “an unprecedented action” by the judge and filed a notice of appeal in the Tan murder trial. Shortly after, it was announced that Judge Piampiano was no longer handling criminal cases. Dateline NBC will air its investigative report on Friday, April 22 at 10pm on NBC.
